Heat is transferred from one material to another by conduction, convection and radiation. In home insulation, the R Value is an indication of how well a material insulates.
Hydronic Heating uses hot water to provide whole or a portion of home heating. Water is heated in a boiler and then pumped through piping to panel radiators in each room. Heat is transferred directly from the radiators to the air. Every building using central heating radiators wastes heat, principally through heat loss through walls directly behind a heat emitter (radiator). To cover this waste of heat, additional fuel is burnt needlessly, wasting for the average house approximately 4 to 6 tons of Carbon Dioxide (C02) into the atmosphere every year, significantly contributing to global warming.
Radiators work by heating air that flows past them. Warm air rises from the radiators and colder air in the room falls. This circulation develops a flow of air around the room sending warm air from the radiator and delivering cool air back to the radiator to be heated. Therefore, for radiators to work well, there should be adequate clearance around them so airflow isn't restricted by the position of the radiator. This is why radiators are mounted off the wall a little and above the floor. As it is said “Radiators don't radiate”.
A home's performance is rated in terms of the energy use per square meter of the floor area, energy efficiency based on fuel costs and environmental impact based on Carbon Dioxide (C02) emissions. The energy efficient rating is a measure of the overall efficiency of a home. The higher the rating the more energy efficient the home is and the lower the fuel bills will be. The environmental impact rating is a measure of a home's impact on the environment in terms of Carbon Dioxide (C02) emissions. The higher the rating the less impact it has on the environment.
While it is possible to weigh a quantity of gas, by comparing the weight of an evacuated container compared to one filled at a known pressure, climate scientists do not rely on direct measurements. Instead, they use estimates based on the molecular weight of Carbon Dioxide; the weights of other greenhouse gases are converted to their greenhouse impact as compared with that of a ton of Carbon Dioxide.
Carbon Dioxide, the benchmark greenhouse gas implicated in global warming, has a molecule containing one Carbon atom and two Oxygen atoms. The C02 output from burning a quantity of coal or oil is known. Depending on the fuel, the Carbon Dioxide can weigh almost three times as much as the fuel, because of the addition of oxygen from the air.